G. Stanley Hall: biography and theory of the founder of the APA

The psychologist and educator Granville Stanley Hall (1846-1924) he was one of the pioneers of psychology in the United States, which would become the nucleus of this science in the following decades. He not only trained several renowned psychologists, but also he founded laboratories, journals and the American Psychological Association.

Although Stanley Hall's theories and points of view have not resisted the progress of the discipline, this author was He was decisive in the establishment of scientific psychology as we know it today, especially in the field of youth development. Let's see what were his main contributions.

• Related article: "History of Psychology: authors and main theories"

Granville Stanley Hall Biography

Granville Stanley Hall was born in Ashfield, Massachusetts in 1846. He studied at Harvard University with William James in the first psychology course in the United States, and he was the first American to earn a doctorate in this discipline.

He lived in Germany for a time, where he studied at the University of Berlin and collaborated with

wilhelm wundt in his laboratory in Leipzig. Later he returned to his native country, where he taught Philosophy and English Language until he was hired as Professor of Psychology and Education at Johns Hopkins University.

In 1883 he founded the first psychology laboratory in the United States, in 1887 he created the American Journal of Psychology and he was also a key influence in the creation of the American Psychological Association, of which he was president for 31 years. He was also the first president of Clark University, founded in 1889.

During the long and prolific career of he Hall focused on development throughout the life cycle, especially in the early stages, and in the education of young people. He was also interested in the evolution theory and for the psychological explanation of supernatural beliefs, including religion and spiritism.

The recapitulation theory

On a conceptual level, Stanley Hall's best-known contribution is his theory of recapitulation, which states that ontogenetic development recalls phylogenetic. This means that the changes that people experience throughout the life cycle are equivalent to those that took place with the evolution of our species.

According to this author, during the first years of life humans differ little from other animals, but upon reaching adulthood (and with with the help of education) we reach the full cognitive potential of the species, mainly related to the ability to reason properly.

Stanley Hall described various features of the development in the early stages of life, which were the ones that focused his interest, although towards the end of his life he also theorized about senescence.

• Related article: "The 9 stages of human life"

1. early childhood

In the first stage of life, approximately up to the age of 6 or 7, children perceive the world above all through their senses; reasoning is still very immature, and the influence of socialization is very limited.

Stanley Hall considered that in this period people we are very similar to animals, specifically the apes, which he saw as ancestors of human beings. In early childhood children have a lot of energy and their bodies develop very quickly.

This phase, then, would be characterized by how little the information that arrives about the world is processed, taking this data "as it arrives". That is, there would be an absence of abstract thought.

2. Second childhood

At 8 years of age, the brain of children is already practically the same size as that of adults; it is at this age when must start formal education, according to Stanley Hall. However, he was of the opinion that primary and secondary education should be a preparation for life in society instead of focusing on traditional subjects such as mathematics.

This author affirmed that the incomplete development of reasoning causes preadolescents to be amoral and have a certain tendency to cruelty. The role of adults in this period should focus on taking care of the physical health of the child, and not so much on trying to develop a moral conscience or acquire skills and knowledge.

3. Adolescence

Like Freud, Stanley Hall was one of the first psychologists to argue that in adolescence sexuality becomes a central aspect of life. Because of this, he promoted separate education for the sexes to favor the learning of morality and the tools for life in society, now possible due to the maturation of the reasoning.

This was one of those situations in which psychology was mixed with the political, and of course, there was a lot of criticism due to the little foundation of the ideas arising from psychoanalysis and the educational consequences of establishing a separation of these characteristics.

The Stanley Hall Legacy

g. Stanley Hall was decisive for the foundation of psychology as a science and as a profession, as well as for the emergence of developmental psychology. His points of view and, above all, his promotion of the study in this field influenced authors such as Jean Piaget, who elaborated one of the most relevant theories on the stages of development.

During his long tenure as a teacher, Stanley Hall taught and mentored many psychologists and philosophers who would have a capital importance in the progress of psychology, very notable during the decades later. Among them are James McKeen Cattell, Lewis M. Terman, John Dewey, Henry Goddard, and Arnold Gesell.

On the other hand, Stanley Hall was also key in the arrival of psychoanalysis, an orientation with which he shared different points of view, in the United States. in 1909 invited Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to Clark University, where they gave a series of lectures that had a great influence on American psychology, despite the rejection by many experts of the unscientific methods of psychoanalysts.

In addition to the American Journal of Psychology, Stanley Hall founded three other journals, of which he was also a Publisher: Pedagogical Seminary, American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education, and Journal of Race Development. In relation to the latter, it should be noted that Stanley Hall defended eugenic perspectives and the superiority of the white race.

Granville Stanley Hall is best remembered for his role in the founding of American Psychological Association and his long tenure as president, a role he served from the APA's founding in 1892 until his death in 1924. Currently this organization constitutes the largest community of psychologists and influential in the world.

• You may be interested in: "Sigmund Freud: life and work of the famous psychoanalyst"